Inter Kashi 3 (Nikola Stojanović 48′, Sumeet Passi 70′, Edmund Lalrindika 71′)
beat
Namdhari FC 2 (Cledson Carvalho da Silva 67′ p, Dharmpreet Singh 82′)

AIFF Media Team

KALYANI: Inter Kashi laid down the marker for Churchill Brothers, beating Namdhari FC 3-2 in the I-League 2024-25 at the Kalyani Stadium on March 6, 2025, and retaking the top spot on the table. All the goals came in the second half.

In a sedate first half the only real moment of note was an injury to Namdhari FC goalkeeper Jaspreet Singh, pulled off after a collision with a suspected hand injury. While Inter Kashi had controlled the game well through the period, they had come up short against an organised and well drilled Namdhari defence. 

In the second half though, things turned completely, and within three minutes of the restart Inter Kashi took the lead. Having received the ball around at the top of the Namdhari box, Sumeet Passi laid it back into the path of Nikola Stojanovic. The Serbian timed his run perfectly, rolled the ball to his left foot, turned away from the defenders and smashed it into the top left corner.  

Kashi firmly had their hand on the tiller and looked in complete control of the game. In the 67th minute though, off a counter-attack, Cledson Dasilva ran through on goal and smashed a shot from range against the crossbar. the Kashi defence were caught ball watching and the Brazilian got the time to reach for the rebound, only to be brought down inside the box. He scored the ensuing penalty, despite Arindam Bhattacharya guessing right and getting his palm to it. 

The game turned into an end to end affair, and Kashi almost took the lead within minutes, when Joni Kauko was played through on goal with a chipped pass. The substitute goalkeeper Nishan Singh did well to block the attempt. In the 70th minute, he had no chance to redeem his defence. A squared pass from the left wing went through an immobile Namdhari defence for Passi to tap in at the far post. 

Barely a minute later, Edmund Lalrindika added a third, sliding through defenders at the top of the box before shooting an inch perfect shot that bounced in off the upright.  Namdhari made a game of it with a goal in the 82nd minute, when Dharmpreet Singh scored to reduce the deficit. In the end though Kashi had enough to see the time through and take the three valuable points.